I’m not going to lie. My enthusiasm was for Shine was significantly reduced by the events of Shine 11. Nonetheless, I will march on and review number 12 since I’m interested in the main event and to see how Amazing Kong’s incredible weight loss affected her match with Mercedes Martinez. The show opened with a harmless but innocuous tag team match as Nikki Roxx and Solo Darling picked up a victory over Tracy Taylor and Su Yung. The idea is that Daffney is starting a team of all-stars, and this was their first victory. Yung has been talked about as more aggressive, but not enough of that was seen here as she meekly jobbed out to Roxx. Clearly, they’re going somewhere with Yung, and I’m wondering if a heel turn isn’t in her future based on what’s been going on with her in Evolve.
For whatever reason, Leva Bates and Christina Von Eerie had two matches, both of which ended quickly and without a decisive winner. Because of events involving Von Eerie and Yung, the idea is that the former is too angry to simply wrestle. In the first match, Von Eerie used a chair and got disqualified in all-time lame finish. Yung came out to brawl as Bates didn’t seem happy about the decision. Bates superkicked Von Eerie and shouted things into the camera, which the audience couldn’t hear because the audio stunk. In the second match, Von Eerie got herself disqualified after hitting the referee. I have no idea what the point to any of this was or who I was supposed to be rooting for. Is Bates a heel for attacking Von Eerie or a face because she responded to Von Eerie’s chairshot (weak though it was). I’m fine with synergy amongst the WWN brands, but if Yung needs to be a babyface or heel in both companies. This was all very confusing and pointless.
The epic battle between Kimberly and Kimber Lee went about five minutes and was also inconsequential. Given the talent, I thought this would be decent. Similar to the previous matches, the heel/face dynamic was very unclear. I complimented Shine on being different from Evolve and DG USA in that there were consistent heels and babyfaces. Sadly not the case here either. Kimberly is still running around with the “Thing’ shirt and doll while sort of acting like a babyface. Lee acted like a cocky heel. The mirror sequence in the beginning was amusing (get it, they have the same name spelled differently), but I walked away being very disappointed with the match overall.
In a number one contender’s three way, Jessicka Havok rightfully earned a singles title match by pinning Ivelisse. Mia Yim, who has lost to Rain in the finals, was also involved. As three ways go it was very slightly above average, but I would have much rather have seen Havok just straight up get a championship match and let Ivelisee wrestle Yim one-on-one. Some good action but a very cliché ending with Havok tossing Yim out of the ring after a finisher and hitting one of her own to get the victory. Rain actually wanted to wrestle championship match after the three way but was prevented by the unofficial commissioner of Shine, Lexie Fyfe.
Santana and Brandi Wine were scheduled to have a one-on-one match. However, after interference from Malia Hosaka, Amber O’Neal asked for a tag team match. This led to Santana and O’Neal picking up a victory over Hosaka and Wine in a decent enough tag match. O’Neal and Santana team in a number of places, so I see the logic of putting them together as long as there are other teams to feud with and Shine tag team titles are a part of the company’s future. Some good heel work from Hosaka and Wine led to a flashy finish by the faces as Santana won with the Shining Star Press.
I was looking forward to Mercedes Martinez and Amazing Kong’s rematch but I felt like the match fell flat. A ton of credit goes to Kong for losing as much weight as she did over a two month span, but for whatever reason, their match together was a disappointment. The crowd was basically comatose until Martinez hit a release German suplex. Even with a longer, the finish came a bit out of nowhere as Kong hit the backfist and Implant Buster. What should have been the best match on the show didn’t meet any of my expectations.
Angelina Love had one of her best outings yet as she defeated the debuting Shanna. Shanna is a Portuguese wrestler who was also a part of CZW and WSU around this same time period. Because it’s modern professional wrestling, part of their feud was conducted in a TWITTER WAR. The ever so popular Twitter war really needs to be represented by wrestling companies in a creative and innovative. If promos can be cut on YouTube, then why can’t tweets from feuding wrestlers be shown. I’m not endorsing the idea of doing wrestling feuds through this mode, but with some creativity and context, maybe this match could have meant more than what it ultimately did. Love won with the Botox Injection in another okay match. Nothing on this crowd was exactly earth shattering.
To complete the parade of mediocrity that was Shine 12, Rain defeated Jessicka Havok in a terribly awkward finish which saw April Hunter sort of interfere and help the leader of Valkyrie retain. Everything about this looked wrong. Rain spent most of the time working over the knee. Havok did very little selling and because of her heelish behavior earlier in the night, I don’t think the crowd embraced her as much as they should have. Similar to a number of other matches, this was a disappointment and fell flat.
Shine 12 was an unimpressive card mired by questionable booking decisions and a total lack of consistency between heels and babyfaces. This was a painful show to watch, and if I don’t see some improvement in the next couple of Shine events, I am likely going to stop reviewing them.
Grade: C
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Taped from Ybor City, Florida
Commentator: Lenny Leonard and Amber Gertner
-Nikki Roxx and Solo Darling (w/Daffney) defeat The West Connection (Tracy Taylor and Su Yung). Roxx pins Yung after the Barbie Killer/9:31/**
-Leva Bates defeats Christina Von Eerie by disqualification/3:19/N/R
-Kimberly defeats Kimber Lee by submission with the Cloverleaf/4:42/*1/2
-Number One Contendership for the Shine Championship: Jessicka Havok defeats Ivelisse (w/April Hunter) and Mia Yim. Havok pins Ivelisse after the Air Raid Crash/9:21/**3/4
-Leva Bates defeats Christina Von Eerie by disqualification/3:48/*
-Santana (w/Amber O’Neal) and Brandi Wine (w/Malia Hosaka) goes to a no-contest.
-Santana and Amber O’Neal defat Brandi Wine and Malia Hosaka. Santana pins Wine after a Shining Star Press/12:21/***
-Amazing Kong defeats Mercedes Martinez by pinfall with the implant buster/11:02/**1/2
-Angelina Love defeats Shanna by pinfall after the Botox Injection/11:18/**3/4
Shine Championship: Rain retains by pinfall with a roll-up and assist from April Hunter to defeat Jessicka Havok/12:04/**3/4
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